I had a group of friends over to do a blind tasting comparing Westvleteren, St. Bernardus, Rochefort, Dieu du Ciel Rigor Mortis, and Ommegang Three Philosophers. We all ranked them in order of preference. The results:
1. Rochefort
2. St. Bernardus
3. Ommegang
4. Westvleteren
5. Dieu du Ciel
There was consensus on 1, 2 and 5. Some ranked Westvleteren above Ommegang. The Three Philosophers was fairly easy to pick out due to the cherry flavour.

St. Bernardus was definitely the best value. Don't bother with the Dieu du Ciel. The Rochefort and Westvleteren were the best looking of the beers, and we all had correctly guessed that they were the Trappist beers of the bunch.

Umm i for one place Gulden Draak as almost like a Dark Triple(best way i can describe it) or Wizenbock-ish, more on the Belgian spice side of a Triple than that fruity brown sugary Quad side.

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It seemed sweet to me and this site calls it a Belgian Strong Dark Ale the bartender called it a quad either way it was really good I really want to try 9000. Anyways back to my question out of the 3 beers in this thread which would you say is sweetest?

Last weekend I had Westy XII, Rochefort 10 and Pannepot. I would say that the Rochefort was only slightly better than the Westy. I think the Pannepot is a great beer, but it isn't as good as these other two. As far as the sweetness question goes, I taste some sweetness in the Rochefort 10. Not so much in the other two.

Achel Extra is better than them all IMO I have aged bottles and had a 5 year old just a couple of months back and it was sublime.

Its a killer Quad and beats all of them.

Except a 7 year old Westy 12, which is the best beer anyone could drink anywhere anytime. Period.

I have had the privelidge to taste the old Westy Yellow Cap (Circa) 1983 , Westy Red Cap 1998, And a 1979 St Sixtus Abt 12 and Prior 8 . They were all past there best with the exception of the Red Cap which was remarkable and was hard to fault given the age, I remember the carbonation and head retention were simply unbelievable.

Beer Trader

Just returned from overseas with a Westy 8 dated 06-04-14 and a Westy 12 dated 17/01/16. When do we suggest I drink these as i've never tasted either. I plan on drinking them along with some Rochefort/St. Bernardus to compare but wondering when it would be "best" to do this. I realize that the age on all might be different but not too concerned with that.

Funny I just did this a couple of weeks ago with friends along with Pannepot, Ovila, Weyerbacher Quad, V-Twleve, La Trappe and a few others I don't remember at this time. We all agreed Westy was the best. Others chose Pennepot as runner up, mine was Abt 12. As for the American Quad's, none could compare to any of the Belgians. Our top rated American was Ovila. An awesome day. Kind of making me thirsty thinking about it.

Funny I just did this a couple of weeks ago with friends along with Pannepot, Ovila, Weyerbacher Quad, V-Twleve, La Trappe and a few others I don't remember at this time. We all agreed Westy was the best. Others chose Pennepot as runner up, mine was Abt 12. As for the American Quad's, none could compare to any of the Belgians. Our top rated American was Ovila. An awesome day. Kind of making me thirsty thinking about it.

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Haven't tried the Pannepot as yet but am looking forward to it. I agree on the Westy 12 and Abt 12. As for the Weyerbacher Quad, it was the worst beer I drank all of last year. Swill!!!

If all are fresh I like the Abt 12. With 3 years on each the Rochfort and Westy are both fantastic. Once it gets past 3-4 years the Westy goes down hill and the Rochfort becomes even more amazing.
Overall I take the Rochfort.

Beer Trader

Umm i for one place Gulden Draak as almost like a Dark Triple(best way i can describe it) or Wizenbock-ish, more on the Belgian spice side of a Triple than that fruity brown sugary Quad side.

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Got to try the Abt 12 on draft not very sweet and while its not bad I didn't think it was as good as Gulden Draak but since I think most abbey ales are bottle conditioned are any of these 3 beers better in the bottle than on draft?

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I am having a blind taste test to see if the most talked about beer is really all that it is cracked up to be. Three glasses 1,2,3. Three beer bottles hidden in the next room marked 1,2,3. There will be three rounds and evaluations made. It will be recommended to consult Beer Advocate or any other site for help. Have any of you done the exact same test or something similar. I am an old guy beer veteran and my two co-tasters will be young twenty something's. Let's see what happens. I will post the results here later today.

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I still say Westy 12 and St. B 12 taste exactly the same - R10 is better.

Beer Trader

Had a 3yr westy vs abt 12 60th anniv last night. Think the abt 12 was great, but slightly past prime @ this point. Westy blew it away... I find westy's inconsistent, however, making it a tough call. Think it comes down to how it was handled b4 it winds up in ur glass

Beer Trader

Im doing this tomorrow, and am pretty excited about it. I'm not blinding them as I dont really see the point because I've had them all multiple times and think Id be able to pick them all up after the first sip or two anyways (plus have no one to blind pour them for me). Ill be posting back with my results after the side by side. With these fresh bottles, Im guessing Rochefort and Westy will be neck and neck and St. bernardus will be a distant third. With two years and 5 years on them, I think Westy will easily top the other 2. Time will tell. Results of the initial one tomorrow, results of the 2 and 5 year tastings will take some patience.

Beer Trader

Just finished up this side by side. Results are as follows:

1) Westy 12
2) St. Bernardus Abt 12
3) Rochefort 10

Rochefort was first in appearance (amazing head and retention) but last in all other categories. Abt 12 was third in appearance, first is aroma and second in the remaining categories. Westy was second in appearance and aroma, 1st in the rest of the categories. What really stood out about Westy was the big spice and complex flavor profile, along with an almost perfect mouthfeel. St. Bernardus with a great showing to give Westy a run for its money. And disappointing performance by Rochefort (An unappealing combination of cloying sweetness and vinegar characters made it lag far behind the other two. Ive had it multiple times and never noticed this negative characters before this side by side).